economism

[ ih-kon-uh-miz-uhm ]

noun

1. the theory or practice of assigning primary importance to the economy or to economic achievement.

economism

/ ɪˈkɒnəˌmɪzəm /

noun

1. 1. a political theory that regards economics as the main factor in society, ignoring or reducing to simplistic economic terms other factors such as culture, nationality, etc
   2. the belief that the main aim of a political group, trade union, etc, is to improve the material living standards of its members
2. often capital (in Tsarist Russia) a political belief that the sole concern of the working classes should be with improving their living conditions and not with political reforms

Word History and Origins

Origin of economism¹

1915–20; < French économisme; economy, -ism

Example Sentences

These tech entrepreneurs mostly grew up “in the age of ‘economism,’ when money making, economic principles and economic rationality trumped everything else,” said Minxin Pei, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California.

From New York Times

“The irony there is that many of the techniques and institutions that the Egyptian state has deployed to arrest, torture, sometimes murder its perceived enemies were implemented and developed to sustain de facto British colonial rule,” said Aaron Jakes, a history professor at The New School who wrote the book, “Egypt’s Occupation: Colonial Economism and the Crises of Capitalism.”

From New York Times

Economism is a belief system that leads people to believe that everything can be simplified to models and curves, and that it’s possible to count and maximize utility in every circumstance.

From The Guardian

What economism misses includes complexity, historical contingency, and the profound, uncountable power of human emotion.

From The Guardian

We know how that bold experiment in heroic economism has ended: a panic-driven withdrawal in the face of the disastrous scenario of hundreds of thousands of excess deaths, overwhelmed NHS hospitals and a crisis of political legitimacy.

From The Guardian